Category: Tips & Tricks

I first stumbled across washi tape a couple of years ago but since entering the world of ‘Bullet Journaling’, I’ve become enamored with it. So what is Washi Tape? It’s a decorative tape usually made from paper that originated in Japan. The main difference to regular masking tape is the huge variety of colours, patterns and sizes it comes in. Washi tape is easy to tear but also quite durable.

There are endless uses for it, some of which you can read about here, but my main interest came from seeing how others have been using it to personalise their journals and notebooks. You only have to search ‘washi tape’ in Pinterest or Instragram to see all the cool things people are doing with it.

So I thought I’d share some of my bullet journal spreads that I’ve decorated recently with this wonderful stuff. I love how just a little bit of tape can bring some brightness to the page and make me want to use my journal even more. But remember, you don’t have to be creative at all or to go to this much effort to use bullet journaling to stay organised. It’s the simplicity of the system that works, not how pretty it looks.

While I tend to only use Washi Tape in my Never-ending Notebook, I recently did one of the projects that I’ve seen pop up on Pinterest a few times….. I covered my keyboard keys!! I love it! I know what you’re thinking, how can I see the keys? Most washi tape is slightly transparent so you can see the letters and numbers underneath. And if you can type ok, you tend to know where they are by muscle memory already.

So where can you find buy this great stuff? There are loads of it available online, but locally I have found it at shops such as The Reject Shop, K Mart, Big W, Newsagents, Officeworks & Spotlight. This huge haul I have pictured is the Crafters Choice brand and is available on sale this week at Spotlight.

I’d love to know if you’ve ever used washi tape before and for what purposes. Or even if you’re crazy obsessed like me!

This post and website is in no way sponsored or affiliated with any of the above mentioned companies.

I’ve been curious about the Bullet Journal concept since I started on my traveller’s notebook journey and with lots of people buying Never-ending Notebooks for this very purpose, I thought it was time I gave it a try too.

So what on earth is a Bullet Journal you ask? Well, as I’m still getting my head around it myself I thought it might be best if the creator of this system, Ryder Carroll, explain it. Here is a great little video of Ryder giving a brief overview. For more detailed explanation check out bulletjournal.com

There is so much information out there on bullet journaling and it can become quite overwhelming and intimidating once you start seeing lots of creative layouts on Pinterest and Instagram. My advice is to start simple. You can always add pretty embellishments later as the main focus of the system is ORGANISATION & PRODUCTIVITY.

Future Log inspired by @maryj13 on Instagram

If you can’t stop yourself from adding a little extra, like me, there are lots of great page layouts out there you can take inspiration from. Don’t worry about it being perfect, you can always sketch it out in pencil first. Always remember, it’s not supposed to be perfect, it’s supposed to keep you on top of things.

Before I set up my ‘Future Log’ (which is really just a simple calendar), I left space for my Index page as that is one of the most important parts of bullet journalling. I then started on my ‘Monthly Log’ & ‘Daily Log’. Another vital part of this system is having a ‘key’ of the types of bullets you will be using and having it somewhere that is easy to refer to.

My ‘key’ taped inside of one of my laminated dashboards that I will keep around my bullet journal notebook.

I won’t go into too much detail about the system in this post as Ryder Carroll’s video and website will make far more sense than me at this stage. I will keep you posted on my progress in future posts and focus on each of the individual areas of bullet journalling.

Monthly Log

I would love to hear from you in the comments if you use a bullet journal or have tried one before. Do you like it? How have you changed it to best suit your needs? What are your favorite sites and resources?

Daily Log

Well now I’m going to click ‘Publish’ on this post so I can happily mark it off in today’s Daily Log. Happy Journalling everyone!

So what do you get the woman who has everything… even a Never-ending Notebook? Another Never-ending Notebook of course!

Recently it was my Mum’s birthday and I was faced with the dilemma of what to get her. Over the years we have done the usual things.. jewellery, clothes, even a trip away (which was awesome but sorry Mum, that’s not going to happen every year!) This year I really wanted to get her something she would use but still felt special.

I made this Notebook Charm to add a little glitz to Mum’s birthday prezzie! (Notebook Charms will soon be for sale too!)

My parents love to travel and spend time in their caravan, which is great for us as they come to visit every few months. While they’re away, Mum likes to relax with puzzles and usually has a crossword book or something similar in her handbag. This gave me an idea… maybe I could still make her something personal AND something that she would also find useful.

Introducing Mum’s puzzle-filled Never-ending Notebook! As you might already know, Never-ending Notebooks are designed to fit A5 inserts and I was very happy to discover that you can get A5 puzzle books!

I found these at the Nextra Newsagent in Stockland, Gladstone. They had heaps to choose from and they have new editions coming out all the time. So when you’ve filled up a book, you can replace it with a new one and still have your stylish cover! I did find one small crossword book from The Reject Shop but they didn’t have the same amount of variety as the newsagents.

Think of the possibilities! Not only can you use the notebook inserts that come with the Never-ending Notebooks, but any A5 size book or magazine! Colouring books, crossword books, even novels or self-help books. The options are endless!

After receiving her present, my mother gave her friend a Never-ending Notebook containing crosswords and puzzles too. She feels it will be a good way to keep her busy during her upcoming hospital stay. I’d love to hear from you in the comments if you have found any other types of books to use in your Never-ending Notebooks and where you have found them.

Mum with her new puzzle-filled Never-ending Notebook.

Note: This post is not sponsored by the businesses mentioned above.

Today’s guest blogger is the very talented author LJ Higgins. Linda is one of my close friends who first encouraged me to share my Never-ending Notebooks with the world after receiving one of the first ones I ever made as a gift. Read on to find out how she uses her Never-ending Notebook in her busy life as a self-published author and mum of two.

When I was asked to do a guest post for The Never-ending Notebook (NENB) I was super excited to be able to express my love of my own Never-ending Notebook, as well as share ways it helps me organise my everyday life. I’ve had my beautiful NENB for six months and use it just as much, if not more, than the day I received it. Not only do I love how it can be personalised to suit my personal taste (denim outer and dream catcher inner for me), but as someone who goes through many notebooks, it’s a great alternative to my, “I’ll put this in a safe place… where did my notebook get to?” approach.

A personalised Dashboard insert representing one of LJ Higgins book series ‘The Dreamer Trilogy’.

Why do I go through so many notebooks? I’m an author, and without notebooks, all of my amazing, inspired, sometimes crazy ideas, would shrivel up and die. I know that sounds a bit dramatic, but when inspiration strikes if I don’t write my thoughts down they seem to evaporate into thin air. The portability of the NENB makes life so much easier and if I am hit with an awesome idea I can scribble it down immediately. Right now I have three notebooks on the go, one for business stuff, and one each for the books I’m working on at the moment. I also have a sketch book, two pockets to store even more notes and inspiration in, and a six month planner.

I love my planner so much I don’t really know where to begin… As someone who works from home, keeping a family, personal and business life balanced isn’t always a simple task, but I find it much easier with my planner. I’m able to block out time for writing, running my various social media accounts and for any other projects I’m working on at the time. This has helped me write and work on my business during the hours my family are at school and work, and I can concentrate on my two kids and husband when they’re home. At the same time I’m able to keep track of my kid’s commitments, my own exercise, dancing, and socialising, and the weekends my husband plans to go fishing. I track my weight loss goals in the To Do List/Intentions column, and use a colour code to map out my time during the day. I use the left pages ‘To Do List & Events’ for my personal to do’s, and I use the right page for my work to do’s. I find there’s plenty of room in each day to add reminders for myself to do social media posts, blog posts and anything else that needs to be done that day. I also write my word counts for each day at the bottom of the column. I’m sure there are many ways to utilise your planner, but this is what I find works best for me.

As a writer I love books, which means I do as much reading as I can squeeze into my busy life. To help keep track of what I read, I’ve drawn up a fun book page in my sketch book where I can write the title of each book I read. I’ll post a picture so you can see. I also like to sketch, draw and design in my spare time and use the back of my sketch book for this.

So, whether you need to better organise your life, love to draw and sketch, love to take notes or just love stationary, I highly recommend you grab yourself a Never-ending Notebook. It has made my life as an author and a mum, so much easier and more organised. Thank you The Never-ending Notebook!

To stay updated with LJ Higgins novels and events, be sure to follow her on Facebook and her Blog. If you are local to the Central Queensland region, you should also come to the book launch of her latest novel “Utopia” this Saturday. It will be a great night full of entertainment and giveaways!

For those of you who are new to Never-ending Notebooks, you may be wondering “What on earth are they?”

Never-ending Notebooks are an all-in-one notebook system designed to help organise your life and ideas in a compact and portable way. It is a concept that has been around for many years and they are also known as Travelers Notebooks in the stationary-loving community.

I thought it might be easier to ‘show’ you what they are than ‘tell’ you, so here is my very first video for The Never-ending Notebook Blog!!!